The Locker
by Child-Of-Chaoz
Summary: 1x2, OOC, After the death of his parents, Duo was starting over. But the moment Duo opened the locker and saw the horrifying vision, he was afraid. Afraid of the future. Afraid of his own premonitions, of powers he tired to deny.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs. I don't own these characters and would very much not like to be sued.

Chapter One:"You're looking a little strange today, Duo" Aunt Hilde said as she leaned across the front seat to shut my door. She was wearing her usual overalls with the faded red flannel shirt underneath, and her hands and cheeks were streaked with clay because she'd been up since the crack of dawn messing around with her sculptures. I'm really not sure how old Aunt Hilde is- whenever I try to figure it out, I always end up somewhere between thirty and forty-but she could pass for twenty, or even nineteen, which is why everyone always wonders if she's my sister.  
  
"What do you mean, I look strange?" I asked her, leaning back in through the open window of the van. She pursed her lips the way she always does when she's trying to avoid an issue, and then she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.  
  
"Your mother would-"she began, then broke off almost guiltily as I stared at her.  
  
"My mother what?" I asked. My heart gave a painful tug, and I asked her again, "Mother what?" But Aunt Hilde only shook her head.  
  
"Be careful."  
  
Those were the last words she said to me that morning, and if I hadn't been so nervous about starting a new school, maybe I would have listened a little more closely to what she was trying to tell me. But instead I just stood there looking up at the huge brick building with Gundam High School carved over its front door. I know I should be used to brand new situations by now with all the moving around we've done, but the truth is, I still get butterflies in my stomach and wish I could be invisible. Behind me the van was sputtering dangerously as it inched away from the curb, and on an impulse I thrust my head through the window one more time and smiled down at my little brother, who was munching on cold waffle.  
  
"I'll come by to get you after school," I reminded him. "Be sure and tell your teacher who I am, so she won't think you're being kidnapped."  
  
"You have to know the password," he said.  
  
"I know it. It's Ralph."  
  
"If you forget it, they won't let him come home with you," Aunt Hilde teased. "Then he'll be stuck forever in Afternoon Adventures."  
  
Aunt Hilde's always been big on afterschool programs that enhance creativity. The one at Solo's kindergarten was suppose to include painting, ceramics, and how to make balloon animals.  
  
"Don't be nervous about your new school," I added reassuringly, but Solo only gave me that solemn stare of his that borders on extreme annoyance.  
  
"Are you serious?" he answered.  
  
You have to understand about Solo. He doesn't have my mother's violet eyes like I do, or my father's chestnut hair like I do, and the two of us aren't anything alike. But we have one thing in common, and that's being incredibly short and small. Our mother was the same way.  
  
When Solo was born, he looked so much like my maternal grandfather with his snow-white hair and huge sad eyes and really solemn face that my parents decided to give him the honor of carrying on the family name. Unfortunately Solo never quite grew out of the resemblance, so even though he's all of six now, he looks like a wise old man in little kid's clothes. Even Solo's day-care teachers always said he had an ancient soul. But on this particular morning he was even more perceptive than usual.  
  
"Hmmm," he said, studying my face. "Better be careful."  
  
There it was again...that warning. I glanced at Aunt Hilde but she only nodded, waved, and hot-rodded off down the street to drop Solo off at his own school three blocks away.  
  
For a long time I just stood there on the sidewalk facing Gundam High and wishing I was back in Florida. Not that I'd particularly enjoyed anything there except getting a good tan...but at least we'd lived there long enough for it to seem familiar. It takes me a long time to adjust to a new place, but Solo fits right in wherever he happens to be. And Aunt Hilde never stays in one place very long.  
  
"With a whole wonderful world out there, we have no excuse ever to be bored!" is what she's always telling us-which is why we're always packing up the very second that school lets out and moving off somewhere else. She's got it down to a system, really. She calls a family conference, and then she takes out a map of the United States, and then on of us gets to close our eyes and point our finger anywhere on the map while she moves it around to keep us from cheating. It was Aunt Hilde's turn when we ended up in Florida with a cottage right on the beach. The time before that, Solo picked North Carolina, and we rented a real log cabin up in the mountains. So when my finger landed on Missouri this time, I knew Solo was disappointed because lately he's been obsessing about Texas and owning a cattle ranch.  
  
"Why Missouri?" he'd asked me, narrowing his eyes, like I'd done it one purpose just to ruin his life.  
  
"I don't know," I'd told him. "My finger just wanted to go there."  
  
"Yeah, right," Solo grumbled.  
  
I couldn't really blame him for being grumpy-it couldn't have happened at a worse time. Weeks of rain in Florida had flooded the town, the school, and our house-so Aunt Hilde had decided to make the move a little early and let us finish out the school year somewhere else.  
  
"The Midwest is lovely!" Aunt Hilde had tried to cheer Solo up. "A lovely place to be! We'll find one of those wonderful small towns where everyone knows everyone else, and life is simple and honest and sweet."  
  
Aunt Hilde is one of those positive-thinking kinds of people. She's scatterbrained and creative and totally unpredictable, which makes life an exciting place to be as long as you're with her. I also think she must be very rich, since she never seems to sell any of her sculpture but she can still afford to take us so many places-she's never talked about money, and I've never asked. She's taken care of us ever since our parents died in a car crash two years ago, and she's the only mother I've got, so I think she's pretty great in spite of all her weirdness.  
  
But now here I was, glancing longingly over my shoulder, watching to van grow smaller and smaller as it went down the street and left me behind. And then I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned back to the ugly building.  
  
"Come on," I muttered to myself, squaring my shoulders and taking one step forward. It always makes my feel better when I think out loud. "It's not like this is the first time you've had to do this."  
  
Yet how was I to know, standing there on the sidewalk of Gundam High, that this was going to be different?  
  
"Come one," I said to myself again. "Get going."  
  
And I was so determined to be brave that I swung my backpack in a wide arc without even looking first. My braid dutifully followed behind me.  
  
I felt the impact only a second before I heard the gasp.  
  
Spinning around, I was horrified to see a guy right behind me, doubled over and holding his stomach. His books were scattered across the sidewalk, and his dark brown hair hung down all around his face so that I couldn't actually see what he looked like. I was so shocked, all I could so was stand there and stare. After what seemed like forever, he finally straightened up and stared back at me, and when I saw the corners of his mouth twitch, I wasn't sure if he was getting ready to yell of just trying not to laugh.  
  
"I hope you have that thing registered," he said softly. He was wearing a green tank top with tight blue jeans and yellow hightops. He was also wearing a blue baseball cap, turned around backwards.  
  
"Wh-what?" I stammered.  
  
"Lethal weapon." He kept a straight face. "What so you have inside that thing? Rocks?"  
  
"I'm so sorry." Dropping my bag onto the sidewalk, I went toward him, but he jumped back out of reach.  
  
"Whoa!" He shook his head. "I can't take any more pain today, thanks very much."  
  
"I said I was sorry," I babbled. "I didn't hear you coming."  
  
He threw me a curious glance, as though he wanted to know about me but was too polite to ask, and then he shifted his attention to his books spread out all over the sidewalk. With one quick movement he squatted down and started gathering up his things.  
  
"Here-let me help," I offered, but he held out one hand to ward me off.  
  
"No. That's okay. Stay where you are."  
  
Now that he wasn't watching me, I could see how really sexy he was, how soft his hair looked as he shook it back from his steely blue eyes. He was tall and slender and had sort of delicate features-small nose, narrow chin, and cheekbones and eyelashes I would have died for-and his body moved with this easy grace that was incredibly sexy. I wondered if he had any idea what kind of effect he must have on people. He straightened back up and arched an eyebrow at me.  
  
"I don't know you," he said. His smile was kind of teasing but also kind of shy, so I smiled back.  
  
"I'm new. This is my first day."  
  
He gave a slight nod. "And you live over on Walnut Street. And you just moved here."  
  
"How do you know where I live?" I asked, surprised.  
  
He didn't say anything, only smiled again. Flustered, I looked away and tried to sound nonchalant.  
  
"Well, you're right, we did just move. From Florida."  
  
"From Florida to _here_?" He looked from one end of the peaceful free-lined street to the other. "Why?"  
  
"My aunt's got a wandering spirit," I said, trying to make a joke. "And when the mood strikes her..."  
  
I left the sentence unfinished.  
  
"Look," I said for the third time, "I'm really sorry about hitting you. I should have looked behind me."  
  
He didn't say a word. He lifted his hand slowly to my cheek and barley touched it with his fingertips. Startled, I felt shivers shoot straight down through my feet, rooting me to the sidewalk.  
  
"Come on. I'll show you where the office is."  
  
I felt like someone must feel when they've had a jolt of electricity go though them. My knees were so rubbery, I could hardly walk. I followed him up the steps and into the building, and thanked him as he dropped me off at the first door.  
  
"It was right on my way." He seemed embarrassed by my gratitude. "Oh...I'm Heero."  
  
"Hi. Duo Maxell."  
  
"See you in class, Duo Maxwell."  
  
He was walking backward, weaving through the flow of students hurrying off to their homerooms, yet somehow managing to avoid running into anyone. Waving, I started to turn away when suddenly he stopped and pointed a finger at me.  
  
"You be careful," he said.  
  
He was smiling.  
  
But it was the third time I'd heard those words that morning.  
  
And warnings always come in threes.TBC......AN: Reviews are always welcome. Particularly flames. My dogs find it entertaining when I throw myself on the floor, shriek like banshee, and beat my fists, feet, and head on the carpeting in a fit of shameful tantrum- ing. I hear that they're considering me for an Academy Award for Best Performance as a Toddler. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs. I don't own these characters and would very much not like to be sued.

Chapter Two:It happened before I even got to my first class. I was hoping it wouldn't take long to register, since Aunt Hilde already talked with Mr. Howard, the principal, the day before, but by the time I finally got my schedule, homeroom was over and the halls were swarming with kids. I could feel stares boring into me as I came out of the office, but before I could figure out which direction to go, there was a shout behind me and someone tugged on my sleeve.  
  
"Hey, Duo, wait up!"  
  
The boy at my side was a few inches taller than me, no surprise there, with short blond hair.  
  
"Didn't you hear me calling?" he scolded and laughed again, a carefree giggle that made me want to laugh with him. "You forgot your locker assignment," he added, waving a piece of paper in front of my nose. "And of course, _me_ -your official guide to show you around!"  
  
His grin was as contagious as his laugh. His blue, almost an aqua, eyes crinkled up into little slits, and he ran one hand back through his short hair.  
  
"I'm Quatre Winner, welcome to Gundam High. You _did_ just move here-isn't that what I heard?"  
  
I nodded. "Over the weekend. But we're not really settled yet."  
  
"It takes a while," Quatre agreed. "But you're only renting, aren't you? So it's not like you have to worry about bringing a lot of stuff, 'cause the place already has furniture, right? If," he added thoughtfully, "you could call all that junk furniture."  
  
He linked his arm through mine and bulldozed me through the packed throngs of students, totally oblivious to their rude remarks and teasing as he ran them down.  
  
"How do you know so much about it?" I asked him, and he stopped again, leaning close with a giggle.  
  
"That you're renting the old lady Une's place? 'Cause my mom's the realtor." He shrugged and gave me a pat on the shoulder. "But even if she weren't, I'd still know about it. _Everyone_ knows when something happens here. You'll get used to that after a while."  
  
"So who was the old lady Une?" I asked, trying to keep up with him again as he sped off down the hall.  
  
"This town's personal pain in the butt," Quatre replied, waiting for me to catch up. "Snooped on the neighbors, complained all the time, had a zillion cats. She hated kids. Always complained we ruined her yard taking shortcuts through it. She loved to yell horrible things at us...so of course that's why we kept cutting through her yard."  
  
I thought of the little yellow house tucked back from its picket fence, and the huge old trees sagging comfortably over its roof, and the climbing roses on the front gate, and the lilac bushes blooming by the back steps. Mentally I went through each of its small old-fashioned rooms cluttered with outdated furniture and useless antiques, and I thought of the upstairs bedroom I'd chosen for myself, a corner with sprigged wallpaper and windows on two walls, with views of the backyard and the empty weed-grown lot behind that and the quiet wooden house that sat next door.  
  
"It's not that bad, I guess," I finally spoke up. "It's just that the house seems so old, and the furniture is really depressing."  
  
"Well," Quatre said, "Miss Une was practically a hundred when she died, after all. How much taste could she have had?" He thought a minute, then added, "How come you wanted _that _house? You could have rented one of the apartments over on Cleveland Street-they're gorgeous."  
  
I felt bad when I heard that. "Well...my aunt likes houses with character," I said lamely, "And she wanted to live in a real neighborhood for a change. Where she could get to know people."  
  
"Imagine that." Quatre looked slightly awed. "I've lived here my whole life and never even thought about it. I've always had neighbors and known everyone in town." He shook his head and dragged me off again. "Maybe your aunt could renovate that old house—make it nice again? That would sure impress everyone!"  
  
"Do we need to?" I couldn't help asking.  
  
"Need to what?"  
  
"Impress everyone."  
  
Quatre giggled. "Just the fact that you moved here at all it impressive! Everyone's wondering why!" He sighed and shook his head. "People are really nice here, but they probably won't accept you right away. So don't take it personally. That's just the way it is-nothing ever changes, no one ever leaves, and if you haven't done anything to make the neighbors gossip, they'll make something up!"  
  
He swerved me sharply around a corner, pointing out various doorways as were rushed past.  
  
"There's the library, if you want to call it that-there's the boy's bathroom, one of them, anyway-the newspaper office is that room to the left, and Mr. Jay, our counselor-he's old and senile, you know, like what could he possibly know about kids-lurks over there behind that door. Okay- that room-that'll be your homeroom-Miss Sally Po, same as mine-that door at the end of the hall leads outside, cafeteria to the right, gym to the left."  
  
He broke off and waited for me to say something, so I nodded to show him I was keeping up with the tour. As five kids shouted something from the other side of the corridor, Quatre pointed at my head and shouted back.  
  
"The new boy! His name's Duo!"  
  
I didn't have to worry about telling anyone hello. Quatre clutched my arm tighter and hustled me off again before I could open my mouth.  
  
"How big was your last school?" He asked.  
  
"Well..." I had to stop and think. "About five hundred in the senior class."  
  
"Well, there're _two_ hundred here, and that's with _all_ the classes." He shook his head and made a face at me. "Before next period's over, everyone will know your name, where you're from, and all the dark secrets of your past. Don't let the stares bother you. I know you feel like you're on display, but the truth is, they're all jealous of you."  
  
"Jealous of me?" I sounded shocked. "Why—"  
  
"Because you're from somewhere else. And nobody here has ever been somewhere else. Come on, I want to show you some more stuff."  
  
"But what about class?"  
  
"Hey, this is part of the initiation process," he scolded me.  
  
The bell rang and everyone scattered. Quatre and I stood against the wall and watched kids stream out in every direction, funneling into open doorways until the hall lay empty and still around us.  
  
"I'll take you upstairs. And then I'll show you the auditorium. And then we'll go to your locker, and then I'll take you to class, 'cause I'm going there, too."  
  
"Don't worry-in just a few days you'll be breezing around like you grew up here with the rest of us. And if you need anything at all-I mean _anything_- just let me know."  
  
It's funny how some people just seem to click with the very first meeting. That's how I felt about Quatre, though I was trying really had not to. Living with Aunt Hilde, I've learned not to make friends too easily because I know I'll just end up leaving them. But Quatre made me _want _to be friends, no matter if I left again or not.  
  
It took about two more minutes to cover the rest of the classrooms, and then he hauled me out the back door and showed me the athletic field, then the gym, the cafeteria and snack bar, and finally the auditorium. The campus was small but much nicer than some I'd been to-there were trees everywhere and benches and even picnic tables for eating outside on nice days.  
  
"Ahhh, if spring would just get here and stay here..." Quatre took a last longing glance over his shoulder as he ushered me back into the main building again, and I nodded.  
  
"I'm not used to your cold weather," I said.  
  
"It's not usually this chilly in spring-though it _has_ been known to snow at Easter!" Quatre sighed. "Things are blooming and we're still stuck in jackets-I want sunshine and swimsuits!" He shut his eyes as if dreaming of summer, and let out a huge sigh. "Come on, let's go to your locker, and then we'll brave Ms. Noin's history class. If we're lucky, she'll spend so much time making you feel at home, she'll forget about the test we're suppose to have today!"  
  
I had to laugh. As Quatre raced off again, he glanced at the piece of paper in his hand and quickly scanned the rows of lockers we were passing. Finally he stopped at the end of the hall, and as I caught up with him, I saw him stare at the top of the locker, then down at the paper, then up at the locker again.  
  
"Is there a problem?" I asked, coming up behind him. "If it's already taken, I'll just go back to the office and ask-"  
  
"No!" He whirled around, and for just a split second his smile had this odd little twist to it, almost like someone had pasted it there on his face. But then it melted into his familiar grin again, and I knew I must have imagined it.  
  
"I mean...no, it's not taken," he said. "This one wouldn't be taken. As you can see, it's perfectly empty."  
  
I couldn't really see, because the door was closed, but I followed the point of his finger to the end of the locker on the top row.  
  
"Here it is," Quatre said. "Right here. You can go ahead and put your jacket in if you want-the building's always hotter than anyone can stand."  
  
I was watching him as he talked, but he wasn't looking at me now, and he wasn't looking at the locker, either. His eyes were fixed on some vague spot in the air above my head, and he was shoving the piece of paper into my hand as if he didn't want to read it anymore. After throwing him a puzzled glance, I read the combination, then reached up to open the door.  
  
"That's funny." I frowned. "I can't get the lock open."  
  
I tried the combination again, holding my breath as I twisted the dial. When I reached the last digit, I pulled at the latch, but it still wouldn't give.  
  
"There must be a mistake," I told Quatre. "It must be the combination to some other locker."  
  
"I don't think so," he said quietly.  
  
"Here. Hold my bag, will you?"  
  
Determined now, I took the lock in both hands, gritted my teeth, and turned the knob slowly and carefully.  
  
"Third time's a charm," I mumbled, and to my surprise, the door popped open so suddenly that if I hadn't known better, I'd have sworn something heaved it out at me from inside. The impact sent me sprawling back several steps, right into Quatre, who put up his hands to steady me.  
  
"Must have been stuck," I said, relieved. "I hope it doesn't do that every time I need to get it op-"  
  
I never got to finish my sentence.  
  
As a sickening stench washed over me, I choked and started to gag, dimly aware of hands clutching my throat, clawing for air-  
  
From far away someone called to me, but the hall was a total blur now-dark and brown and runny-oozing down around me in a suffocating flood of darkness.  
  
I opened my mouth and heard the screams.  
  
But not my screams...  
  
Screams of pain...horror..._agony_...  
  
Screams coming from my locker.TBC......AN: Reviews are always welcome. Particularly flames. My dogs find it entertaining when I throw myself on the floor, shriek like banshee, and beat my fists, feet, and head on the carpeting in a fit of shameful tantrum- ing. I hear that they're considering me for an Academy Award for Best Performance as a Toddler. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs. I don't own these characters and would very much not like to be sued.

Chapter Three:Silence rushed in.  
  
For an eternity I floated in my strange, quiet darkness, every sense numb beyond feeling.  
  
_"Duo...what's wrong..."_  
  
Reality slammed into me with a terrific jolt.  
  
_Lights overhead, rows of lockers, peeling walls, scuffed floorboards_-everything hit me at once, and I felt myself falling backward into a pair of arms that were all too real.  
  
"_Duo!_ Duo, are you _okay_?"  
  
It was Quatre's voice, I recognized it now, but he was yelling, not whispering, and it wasn't his arms holding me up and literally keeping me from collapsing onto the floor.  
  
"Are you all right?" Heero demanded. His face was about two inches away from my own, and I could see Quatre right behind him, peering anxiously around his shoulder.  
  
"I..." My eyes grew wide as I looked at him. "What happened?"  
  
"I thought you were going to faint!" Quatre's voice rose several octaves. "You looked so strange, and I saw Heero coming out of class, and I yelled for him to help!"  
  
"I'd be insulted," Heero said in a stage whisper, "if someone told me _I_ looked strange."  
  
I gazed into his eyes and slowly put one hand to my forehead. Things were starting to focus now, crystal clear-_too_ clear-so sharp and distinct that I wanted to block out each larger-than-life detail. I could see the little threads unraveling from one of Quatre's shoelaces, and the tiny mole hidden behind his right ear; I could see the crooked finger on Heero's left hand that might have been broken once, and the faded scar on his wrist beneath the cuff of his shirt.  
  
"Should we get him to the nurse?" Quatre looked at Heero, but I put my hand on his arm.  
  
"No, I'm okay."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"No," Heero said, squinting at me. "I think he's going to cry."  
  
"I'm not going to cry," I insisted, even though I'd never felt more like crying. "Just give me a minute."  
  
"Can you stand up?" Quatre leaned over me, but when I didn't answer right away, he cupped his hands around his mouth. "I said, can you-"  
  
"Hey, Quatre, why don't you talk a little louder so everyone in the building will come out here to see what's wrong?" Heero's look was mildly reproachful, but Quatre didn't seem to notice.  
  
"Really," I said shakily, "I'm fine."  
  
"Lets get him outside," Heero said. "In the fresh air."  
  
The next thing I knew, they were both guiding me out the door, and I was shaking so bad that I stumbled and fell right against Heero's chest.  
  
"Here you go, sit here," Heero said. He lowered me carefully onto one of the concrete steps, and then he stood back and began to whistle softly, as if this sort of thing happened all the time and music always made it better.  
  
"I'm so embarrassed," I mumbled. _No-it didn't really happen!_ "I can't believe I did this." _No-I won't let it happen!_ And I put my hands to my temples and pressed hard-harder-_no, no, it's not suppose to happen, I promised myself it would never happen again-_  
  
"Duo?" Quatre sat down beside me, and I felt his arm slip gently around my shoulders. And then suddenly things began to settle again...normally...everything looked in its right place and proper perspective. I looked up at Heero, and he stopped whistling.  
  
"It's okay," Quatre reassured me, giving me a hug, and his voice was quivering and his hands felt cold. "It's hard being the new kid in a new school, everyone staring at you, not knowing what to expect. It's really okay. Isn't it Heero?"  
  
"It might be okay," Heero said agreeably, "If you'd shut up for ten whole seconds."  
  
He met Quatre's frown with a look of wide-eyed innocence, but there was this little twinkle way back behind his stare. I couldn't tell if he was amused at my stupid predicament or at Quatre's overreaction-Quatre seemed almost as upset as I was. My hands were still trembling, and I clasped them together so Heero and Quatre wouldn't notice. _It wasn't suppose to come back-wasn't supposed to happen-how could it-how could it-_  
  
"I told you to be careful," Heero reminded me, a slow smile easing across his lips. "I bet you didn't even eat breakfast this morning, did you?"  
  
"This doesn't have anything to do with eating." I didn't mean to sound so defensive, but I was scared and queasy and still trying to shut down all the confusion in my brain. "It was the smell in that locker."  
  
Heero looked at Quatre and Quatre looked at me, and I looked back at the door as if the smell might come pouring out on top of me at any second.  
  
"I've never smelled anything like that before. What do you think it was?"  
  
Even now the horrible odor still lingered in my mind. Pressing one hand to my throat, I fought off a wave of nausea and suddenly realized that Heero and Quatre were staring at me, not saying a word. I felt my cheeks grow hot, and I fanned myself with one hand and tried to laugh.  
  
"Well. I guess whoever had that locker before me forgot to fumigate it."  
  
_What's wrong with them-why aren't they smiling?  
_  
_It was a joke! Why aren't they saying anything-why are they staring at me like that-_  
  
"What smell?" Quatre finally asked in a small voice.  
  
This time it was my turn to stare. "You're not serious, are you? You couldn't have been standing that close to me and not smelled it. It practically knocked me over!"  
  
Quatre's brows knitted together and he chewed his lip.  
  
"I..." He glanced quickly at Heero. "Maybe I just didn't notice-"  
  
"You couldn't have not noticed." I looked at him full in the face, dumbfounded by his answer. "You must have-you _had_ to-"  
  
I broke off as Heero took my elbows and hauled me to my feet. He held the door open for Quatre and me, and then he sauntered back down the hallway. Pausing in front of the open locker, he leaned slowly forward till his head was inside. Then he turned around and faced us with a look of mock horror.  
  
"The gym socks that wouldn't die!"  
  
"Come on, Heero," Quatre mumbled, "can't you see he's serious?"  
  
His smile faded. "Okay, sorry. There's no smell."  
  
"It can't be gone-that's just impossible." Pushing past Heero, I stuck my own head inside the locker, but after a few seconds, I pulled out again, bewildered.  
  
"But it_ was_ here," I insisted. "I mean...it was so strong!"  
  
Quatre took a cautious sniff, hesitated, then took a second one for good measure.  
  
"I don't smell anything," he said weakly, and again I caught the quick look he shot at Heero.  
  
"What exactly did it smell like?" Heero asked me.  
  
I stared from one of them to the other. I knew my mouth was hanging open, so I closed it and swallowed hard and concentrated on looking halfway rational.  
  
"It was so..."  
  
I frowned. Only minutes ago every one of my senses had been brutally assaulted, but now I could barley remember what any of those feelings had been. _That's it...that's right...empty your mind...you can do it...just like you did last time...just like you did when it hurt so bad..._  
  
I shook my head slowly, trying to clear it. "I don't know _what_ it smelled like, exactly. Horrible. Sickening. But I'm sure I'd know if I ever smelled it again."  
  
"Biology lab is right over there." Heero gave a casual wave of his hand. "Probably some experiment going on. Something being dissected. You could have gotten a whiff of that."  
  
"My friend Dorothy walked past the lab one time and keeled right over," Quatre said helpfully. "She was carrying a fishbowl to one of the other science rooms, and she fell on top of it and cut herself in eight places."  
  
"Poor fish," Heero said, and the corners of his mouth twitched as Quatre turned on him.  
  
"Well, you know, Heero, it really wasn't funny!" He sounded upset. "I know Dorothy is sort of...well...clumsy...but she didn't squash those fish on purpose!"  
  
Heero was trying so hard to look sympathetic and failing so miserably that I finally had to smile.  
  
"It must have been the lab then," I lied, because I knew no stench like that could possibly have been there one minute, then faded so completely the next. I didn't want to talk about it anymore-didn't even want to think about it. I just wanted to go to class and lose myself in some boring lecture and forget about what had happened.  
  
"Right, then, let's go," Quatre said quickly. He seemed as relieved as I was to drop the subject, and as he leaned over to brush off my pants, Heero stood watching him with a tolerant smile.  
  
"I don't know what to say," I told Heero. "Seems like all I'm doing today is apologizing to you."  
  
His smile widened in a lazy sort of way. "Are you always this much trouble to have around?"  
  
"Maybe they're working on gas line somewhere, and there's a leak," Quatre fretted. "That could really happen, couldn't it?"  
  
Heero have a solemn nod. "Anything could happen, Quatre. I could get bitten by a werewolf tonight and spend the rest of my life running naked through the woods trying to find a good vet."  
  
"Oh, please," Quatre said dryly, "the very image of you without your clothes is enough to give anyone severe nightmares."  
  
He winced as Heero shoved him from behind and sauntered away down the hall. He paused at the corner and saluted us before he disappeared, and Quatre turned to me with a sigh.  
  
"I'm only kidding, you understand."  
  
"About what?" I asked.  
  
"About Heero. Actually, he doesn't look half bad without his clothes. Actually"-he sighed again-"he looks pretty damn wonderful."  
  
I glanced down at my watch. "Shouldn't we get to class?"  
  
"He's very modest," Quatre went on, leaning in close to my ear. "Kind of shy, really. How was I supposed to know a bunch of guys were skinny-dipping when I drove out to his cabin that day? He could have told me not to come. Was that my fault?"  
  
I was only half listening. Quatre was talking really fast, carrying on this one-sided conversation and walking out into the hall again, but my locker was still open, and I couldn't stop staring at it. Just a locker, I told myself sternly. One that looks like all the others around it. _Nothing unusual about an old empty locker...  
_  
But I was still shaky. I made myself go over and close the door, and then I told myself I must have imagined the whole thing, and I wasn't going to think about it anymore.  
  
"Thank you," I said, and Quatre broke off chattering to look at me in surprise.  
  
"For what?" He smiled.  
  
"For not laughing," I said. "For not thinking I'm crazy."  
  
"Hey, come on-"  
  
"For trying to come up with some excuse so it won't get around the whole school that I'm some kind of disaster."  
  
He looked at me sympathetically. "You're not a disaster. Now, Heero...that's disaster." He waited for me to laugh, but when I didn't, he added cautiously, "What do you-_really_-think happened when you opened your locker?"  
  
I frowned, trying to recall exact details, yet I knew I'd already buried them in some forbidden memory zone.  
  
"Something happened," I said simply. "Whatever I smelled was coming from"-I stopped myself and proceeded cautiously-"_seemed_ to be coming from that locker. Like whoever used it before me had something really disgusting stored in there and-"  
  
"That's impossible." Quatre shook his head. "It hasn't been used for..." He hesitated and seemed to be searching for words. "For a long time," he finished at last. "Not since last fall, anyway."  
  
"What do you mean? How do you know that?"  
  
His face looked so serious now, it was making me nervous. I waited for him to answer, and he finally said, "Because I knew the boy who had it last."  
  
For a long time he didn't say anything else. We both stood there in the hall, and I could hear muffled classroom noises up and down the passageway and the faint faraway slam of a door, and then Quatre put his hand on my arm.  
  
"It was Wufei's locker," he murmured. "Wufei Chang."  
  
Just the way he said the name made me feel weird.  
  
When I didn't respond, Quatre glanced at me and then away again, as if he really didn't want to talk about it anymore.  
  
"Who's that?" I heard myself ask, even though every instinct was telling me not to.  
  
"A boy who went to school here," Quatre said softy. "Before he disappeared."TBC...... 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs. I don't own these characters and would very much not like to be sued.

Chapter Four:"Disappeared?" I saw Quatre take a step forward, but I just kept standing there in the middle of the hall looking at him. "What do you mean, disappeared?"  
  
"I mean he just vanished into thin air." Quatre gave a little shiver, then took my elbow and steered me down the hall, keeping his voice low. "You're bound to hear about it sooner or later-it's our town's one claim to fame. Or is it infamy?" He gave a wry smile. "One day he was here, and I was walking with him like I'm walking with you now, and we were laughing and everything was normal. And then..."  
  
He stopped walking. His voice lowered even more, and his fingers tightened on my arm.  
  
"No one knows what happened to him after school that day. No one ever saw him again...or heard from him."  
  
I could feel myself nodding as I gazed into Quatre's eyes. For a moment I thought they filled with tears, but he blinked quickly and gave me a thin smile.  
  
"That must have been so horrible," I murmured.  
  
"For everyone. You never think something like that's going to happen to someone you know. Only this time it did."  
  
His words made me feel cold inside. I leaned back against the wall, but then Quatre was pulling on me again, and I had to go with him.  
  
"Come on. I'd better get you to class before you fall down. Heero has gym this period, so he won't be around to help me pick you up."  
  
He grinned, and I was glad we were changing the subject. As he stopped outside the closed door of a classroom and hurriedly flipped though one of his notebooks, there was just on more question I had to ask.  
  
"Heero..." I said as casually as I could. "Is he your boyfriend?" Part of me was dying to know, while another part was bracing to be disappointed. When Quatre didn't answer, I thought he hadn't heard me, but then he looked up and moaned and slammed his notebook shut.  
  
"I'm going to kill that Heero-he forgot to give my notes back, and I need them for this class!" He cast me a long-suffering look and then giggled. "Me and Heero? Are you kidding? We've been buddies since kindergarten- that's bad enough."  
  
"Wow. That long?" Again I tried to sound nonchalant, but he was looking at me with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. "He seems nice," I added lamely.  
  
He put his hand on the doorknob and looked back at me with a smile.  
  
"Yeah," he said, his own voice just as casual. "He is."  
  
I was glad to go into class then. I had this feeling that for all my efforts, I hadn't fooled Quatre for a second.  
  
The day went by in a blur, and I was just as miserable as I always was in a new school, only this time it was worse. It wasn't that everybody wasn't nice to me-because they were-but I could still feel their stares and hear their whispers and I hated that feeling of being on display.  
  
Except it wasn't just that.  
  
No matter how hard I tried to concentrate, I couldn't stop thinking about what happened that morning at my locker, and each time I remembered, I felt sick all over again. It just didn't make any sense-especially with the locker being empty all those months-yet I knew I hadn't imagined that smell. And the poor boy who'd used it before me, just disappearing off the face of the earth...  
  
The whole thing gave me the creeps. If it hadn't been for Quatre, I don't know how I would have made it thought that first day. Each time the bell rang, he magically appeared to whisk me off to my next class or lunch or gym or more classes again, and buy the time school was over, I was in the hall looking for him, embarrassed that I'd come to depend so much on seeing his cheery face in the crowds.  
  
"You survived!" he greeted me, grabbing my arm and herding me down the corridor. "Congratulations!"  
  
"Thanks to you," I said. "You services went above and beyond."  
  
"Oh, come on, I was glad to help." He brushed off my gratitude with a modest shake of his head. "But look at that load of books you're still carrying around-each time I see you, it's grown! How come you didn't dump al that stuff between classes?"  
  
For a split second I wanted to tell him the truth, that I'd rather lug around everything I owned in the world than go back to that locker again, but I realized how stupid that would sound. So instead I took a deep breath and lied.  
  
"I thought I might have a spare minute in class to look things over. You know, to see if I'd already had some of this stuff in my other school."  
  
"You probably have." Quatre chuckled. "I mean, look around-not exactly what you'd call progressive, right? Hey, a bunch of us are getting together later, and I thought it might be a good chance for you to meet some more of the kids. How about it?"  
  
I shook my head. "That's really nice of you. But I have to stop by for my brother, and then my aunt's picking us up, and I promised I'd help her out at home."  
  
"Where's your brother?" Quatre asked. "And is he cute?"  
  
This time I laughed out loud. "Solo? He's at kindergarten and he's six years old. But you really could meet him sometime-if nothing else, he's pure entertainment."  
  
Quatre waved as a small group shouted his name from then end of hall.  
  
"_Coming_! Look, Duo." He turned back to me with a smile and touched me lightly on the shoulder. "I've got to run. Sure you won't change your mind? Sooner or later you'll have to face them all in person."  
  
He laughed and I joined in, but I could feel a knot forming in the pit of my stomach.  
  
"I will sometime," I hedged. "It's just that with moving in and all, the place is such a wreck and I promised my aunt-"  
  
"See you!"  
  
Before I could even finish, Quatre waved and hurried off, and I headed back in the opposite direction.  
  
I was glad there were still a few kids hanging around in the hall. With them laughing and talking, it wasn't like anyone was really paying attention to me while I tried my locker combination. I don't even know what I expected, exactly-some horrible repeat of what happened earlier, I guess- but instead the lock popped open easily in my hand, and the door swung out with no problem, and I just stood there staring into the empty little compartment.  
  
_And that's all it is...just an empty compartment. Nothing to be afraid of...  
_  
Shivering a little, I started to remember the incident all over again, so I shut my mind against it. Then I counted off homework assignments on my fingers and threw in the books I wouldn't be needing that night and slammed the door shut. In fact, I was trying so hard to get out of there that I didn't even notice the guy standing next to me, rummaging quietly through his own locker.  
  
"So," a voice drawled, "You must be Duo."  
  
Startled, glanced over, but the guy's face was hidden behind his open door. What I _could_ see were tight jeans and narrow hips, dirty boots, and part of a denim sleeve. I started to say something, but he swung the door shut and beat me to it.  
  
"Duo Maxwell," he said. "From Florida. You're renting the old Lady Une's place."  
  
It was said matter-of-factly and without any emotion. He hesitated a minute, then added, "Why here?"  
  
He was so tall; I could feel my neck muscles staining overtime, just trying to look up into his face. Six feet four, I figured, with broad shoulders, and the rest of him sort of tapering down gradually into slim hard muscle. He had the most unusual hairdo I've ever seen before. It was brushed over one eye, defying gravity. His face was narrow and deeply tanned-not the kind of tan you get in the summer, but more like he'd spent his whole life outdoors.  
  
"Excuse me?" I managed to stammer.  
  
"Why here?" he repeated, raking me with his one visible eye. They were a deep green, and as they moved over me, they were so intense that I had to look away.  
  
"Why _not_ here" I countered, keeping my gaze on my armload of books, pretending to sort through them one at a time.  
  
"No one would ever be transferred here, and I know for a fact you're not related to anyone in town." He paused, waiting for me to answer, but I didn't. "There must be some reason," he finally said.  
  
"I don't have to have any reason," I replied. "It's a free country."  
  
"Oh, I get it. Looking for a quaint little slice of Americana? Come to study the country bumpkins?"  
  
He had this slow way of talking that made him sound lazy-almost indifferent- yet I could sense something just below the surface of his words-a sort of watchfulness, or wariness, that put me on my guard.  
  
"I'm not that kind of person, "I said stiffly. For a long moment his eyes stared full into mine, holding me so I couldn't look away. And then, to my surprise, he shook his hed and turned his back on me.  
  
"Well," he said softly, "we'll see."  
  
I had no idea who he was, and I hurried out of the building, I grew madder and madder. I felt like I'd been deliberately baited-put to some test or something-and I didn't like it one bit.  
  
Solo's school was just minutes away, and I made me feel good to see all the little kids laughing and playing inside the fenced yard. I wasn't surprised to see my brother off by himself in a corner by the sandbox, flipping through a picture book and looking totally bored with his surroundings. One of the teachers asked me the password then started waving to Solo, telling him it was time to go home.  
  
"So how was school?" I greeted him as he came strolling out. His little backpack was hanging lopsided over one shoulder, and his hands were stained as purple as his sweatshirt.  
  
"Oh, you know"-he sighed-"they're all such children."  
  
I hid a smile and nodded as we started down the sidewalk. "What's with the new skin tone?"  
  
"Dye," he said.  
  
Again I nodded. You can't rush Solo. You have t let him take his time and tell things his own way, or he'll just clam up and not talk at all.  
  
"One of the kids really liked my shirt. He said he'd trade me his shirt for mine 'cause he really liked purple."  
  
This time I cringed.  
  
"Of course I didn't want his shirt," Solo went on indignantly. "You never know where another kid's shirt has been."  
  
He looked at me for confirmation, and I made a sympathetic sound in my throat.  
  
"So I told him I'd dye his shirt to look like mine."  
  
I pressed my lips tight. I could feel a laugh coming, but I managed to keep a straight face.  
  
"So," Solo said solemnly, "when they passed out the grape juice-"  
  
"I get the picture," I said.  
  
"The kid loved it," Solo added.  
  
"But the teacher didn't, it bet"  
  
He cast me a sidelong glance and shook his head.  
  
"Teachers have no sense of humor."  
  
"No," I agreed, and he sighed.  
  
"So what about you?" he asked. "What happened?"  
  
"What do you mean, what happened?"  
  
"I told you to be careful, but something probably happened anyway," he said matter-of-factly. "So what happened?"  
  
I stopped on the sidewalk. A few steps ahead of me Solo stopped, too, although he didn't turn around.  
  
"My locker attacked me," I said.  
  
"That'd make such a great movie."  
  
"I mean it, Solo. Something..._something's_ wrong somewhere that I don't understand."  
  
"But I probably will," he said. "So tell me."  
  
I did.  
  
I told him exactly how it happened-exactly what I'd felt-senses sharpened, panic heightened-and the way I'd gone queasy and faint, and that sickening, disgusting odor. And when I'd finished, I realized I'd began to tremble again, and that Solo had finally turned around and was staring at me with his wise funny face.  
  
"You know what it is," he said solemnly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The smell," he said. "You know what it is."  
  
"No." I shook my head at him, and as I kept repeating "No-no-"I could feel my head shaking faster and my hands quaking harder, and I could see Solo nodding at me, up and down, up and down, not changing his grim expression.  
  
"Yes, you do," he said, "so quit blocking it out of your mind."  
  
"I _don't_ know," only now I was pleading with him, and I could feel myself crumbling inside, dark images, dark memories flying out of long forgotten corners in my mind. "That horrible smell-I couldn't stand it-the stench-"  
  
"Fear," Solo murmured, and broke off abruptly.  
  
"What...what did you say?"  
  
"The smell of fear." Solo's eyes gazed back at me, huge brown saucers filled with sadness. "You remember. You smelled it once before."TBC...... 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs. I don't own these characters and would very much not like to be sued.

Chapter Five:

"You shouldn't have brought that up!" I could hear my voice as from a long way off, and I was screaming at him, something I never do to Solo. "You promised you wouldn't! You _promised_!"  
  
Solo looked so guilty. His head bent forward a little, and his mouth was pressed together into such a tight line that both his cheeks were puffed out and I could see his double chin.  
  
"You promised," I said again, only this time I started off down the sidewalk and didn't even hear the horn honking behind me as Aunt Hilde drove up. I stopped in my tracks and turned to see Solo standing there, torn between running after me and jumping into the van. So I wheeled around and climbed inside, and he climbed into the front next to Aunt Hilde, and neither of us spoke to each other all the way home. I know Aunt Hilde noticed, but she was too tactful to say anything. Instead she just directed questions at each of us about how our days had gone, and didn't try to make us chitchat. Once we reached the house, I headed straight for my room while Solo hung around in the garage, pretending he'd lost something under one of the car seats.  
  
I closed my door and locked it and threw myself down on the bed. And then I shut my eyes and tried to blank out Solo's accusation, but it kept echoing over and over in my head till I thought I'd scream.  
  
_"You remember...you smelled it once before..."_  
  
"It's a coincidence, that's all it is. It doesn't have anything to do with anything. The stupid door on the stupid locker was just stuck, and I shouldn't have gone to school on an empty stomach-"  
  
Tears filled my eyes, and I buried my face in my pillow, trying not to remember but not being able to help it. That night two years ago...lying across my bed and trying to study for a test...that sick feeling in my stomach, making me weak, making me nauseated...and that awful stench-every nerve, every sense, every heartbeat screaming, on fire, twisting with pain and premonition...  
  
"Solo," I whispered.  
  
I'd gone into Solo's room that night. Sick and horrified, I'd gone straight into Solo's room, and I'd held him, and then the doorbell had rung.  
  
I could still remember the sound of that doorbell shrieking and shrieking through our house that would never be the same again.  
  
_"I'm afraid there's been an accident..."_  
  
And I'd held Solo all through the night and then later all through the funeral, wondering what would happen to us now that both our parents were dead...  
  
_"You remember...you smelled it once before..."  
_  
"Oh, God."  
  
The sound of my voice got through to me somehow. I raised my face from the bed and stared at my door, and then I got up and went across the room and opened it, knowing Solo would be standing there silently in the hall.  
  
He was.  
  
We looked at each other without saying a word, and he came in and perched on the foot of my bed while I locked the door behind him.  
  
"Does Aunt Hilde know?" I murmured at last.  
  
"She knows you're upset, but I didn't tell her why," Solo said. "Maybe she thinks it's just nerves."  
  
"Maybe that's all it is."  
  
He gave me his most Soloish look, and I withered beneath it.  
  
"Okay," I gave in. "So what _does_ it mean?"  
  
"The boy." He screwed up his face, deep in thought. "The one who disappeared. What do you know about him?"  
  
"Just his name. Wufei something."  
  
"He'd probably be easy to find out about. There must be newspaper articles."  
  
"Come on." I sighed, flopping down on my back beside him, folding my arms beneath my head. "You realize we're getting into weird things here. You realize-"  
  
"That is _not_ what I'd call a normal locker," Solo reminded me sternly. "Maybe you stirred up something that's been wanting to get out."  
  
"And somehow...I connected with it?" I mulled this over for several seconds. "A feeling of fear-no, that's not right-_terror_-from an old locker in an old school-most likely because I was so _nervous_ about being there." I cast him a reluctant glance. "Okay, so let's say you _might_ be on to something. _Might_ be," I added grudgingly. "Whose terror did I connect with? Wufei's? Or just mine?"  
  
Solo furrowed his brow. "Both maybe."  
  
"Quit going psychic on me, Solo."  
  
"_You're_ the one who's psychic. I'm just trying to make you think. Listen. What did those other kids do when you almost passed out?"  
  
"Quatre and Heero? They kept me from falling on the floor! They stood there and watched me make a total fool of myself!"  
  
"I mean"-Solo sighed loudly-"did they say something like, 'Oh, no, not that haunted locker again!'?"  
  
"Haunted locker?" I propped myself up on my elbows and gave him a scathing look. "That's the best one yet, Solo. As if I didn't have enough my mind right now without-"  
  
"You knew when Mom and Dad were killed. You knew the exact second it happened, even though we were miles away. You can't deny that."  
  
"Stop it," I muttered, turning over so he couldn't see my face. "How would you remember, anyway? You were too little."  
  
"I remember," he said softly.  
  
We both went quiet then. I could hear Aunt Hilde in the kitchen below us banging pots and pans and chopping something for dinner, and outside my window a tree branch scraped gently against the glass.  
  
"If it happens again, you won't be able to ignore it," Solo challenged me. "If it happens again, you'll have to admit you've picked up on something. If it happens again-"  
  
"It won't," I cut him off and swung my feet over the side of the bed. "Do you mind? I've got homework to do."  
  
I hated ending it like that. I glanced over my shoulder and watched him trudge across the floor. He paused with one hand on the doorknob.  
  
"If it happens again," Solo said reasonably, "what if something happens to _you_?"  
  
I felt a chill go through me, deep and piercing. Somehow I managed to laugh.  
  
"You're so silly, Solo. I thought Aunt Hilde told you not to watch all those scary shows on TV anymore."  
  
"The reason I watch them"-Solo gazed back over his shoulder at me-"is to keep alert to every possibility."  
  
_Dad's favorite expression...how did Solo remember that?_  
  
My heart clenched a little, remembering the wink Dad always used to give me when he doled out advice and I just looked at Solo, not really sure what to say. He shut the door behind him, and I wandered over to my back window and stared out.  
  
At one time the backyard must have been beautiful, with all its trees and shrubs and even what looked like a small plot of garden in one corner beside to storage shed. Someone had been nice enough to mow the grass before we moved in, but weeds still marched along the fence and choked the flowerbeds where a few sorry tulips had managed to stick their heads through. A dream for Aunt Hilde, I thought-she'd be spending hours and hours out there trying to turn the place into some sort of exotic paradise.  
  
I let my gaze roam slowly to the neighbor's backyard on the right. I could see only part of it-a doghouse and some apple trees-but there was no sign of movement anywhere. It made me realize that no one had come over to welcome us since we'd been here-but then again, we'd only shown up late Friday night, and the weekend had been taken up with trying to settle in and run errands and stock up the refrigerator. _Still...you'd think in a small town where everyone's suppose to be so curious about you...  
_  
Restlessly I moved to the other windowpane, turning my attention to the neighbor's house on the left. One second-story window was practically opposite my own, yet it was hard to really see because of the huge old oak tree in our side yard. Its trunk was at least ten feet around, and its missive branches spread out so far, I could easily crawled out and perched on them. There were more think heavy limbs stretching all the way across the fence to the upstairs window, making a kind of bridge between the houses. Sliding open the sash, I let the cool air blow across my cheeks as I stared out into the lengthening shadows of late afternoon. We were suppose to have screens put on the windows, but they'd had to be special ordered and hadn't come in yet, so I could hang out as far as I wanted. Squinting, I tried to see if anyone was visible in that window next door. For one second I thought I saw curtains moving, but I couldn't be sure.  
  
_"If it happens again, what if something happens to you?"_  
  
I tried not to think about what Solo had said, but I couldn't help it. He has such a wild imagination, and he always tries to sound so mysterious when he's offering words of wisdom-but this time it really got to me.  
  
_Come on, Duo, give it a rest. I mean, look around! What could be more peaceful than this boring place?_  
  
Peaceful...  
  
A little town where nothing ever happens.  
  
_And when Aunt Hilde decided it was time to move again, I closed my eyes and moved my hand back and forth over the map, and watched my finger land right on this spot, just as surely as if some invisible force had grabbed it and slammed it smack down on top of this town._  
  
"That's not true," I mumbled. "It _seemed_ that way, but I could have picked anywhere. Anywhere at all."  
  
Shivering, I closed my eyes and just stood there, feeling the breeze on my cheeks, listening to it sift through the oak leaves and sigh around the eaves of the house.  
  
And then...slowly...my skin began to prickle.  
  
Eyes wide now, I drew back into my room, hands clenched tightly on the sill.  
  
_Someone's watching me._  
  
I knew it just as surely as I was standing there, could feel it, hidden and silent and cold-_so very cold-eyes without emotion-without feeling- empty..._  
  
"Aunt Hilde," I whispered, but of course she didn't hear.  
  
No one heard as I stood there, too terrified to move-trapped by something I couldn't even see-  
  
"Aunt Hilde!" I screamed.  
  
From faraway I heard a muffled voice and then footsteps running up the stairs.  
  
But I didn't need Aunt Hilde now.  
  
I knew that whoever had been watching me was gone.

TBC...... 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs. I don't own these characters and would very much not like to be sued.  
  
AN: [smacks self] . I can't believe I did that...thank you Rosedreams, for bringing to my attention, that I DID make two Hilde's. Oops. My bad. Just pretend it's someone else. Or if you havta be a critic, I changed the person. It's no longer a Hilde, but a Dorothy. Besides, Quatre's 'friend', isn't ever in the story again.

Now that that's covered, on with the story, and sorry for the long wait. -.-; It's the end of the school year; I'm going to be graduating soon, what do you expect? =)

Chapter Six:

"What on earth's the matter!"  
  
I can only imagine what I must have looked like, standing there with my back pressed against the wall, arms out to my sides, trying to breathe normally again. Poor Aunt Hilde rushed over to me and put an arm around my shoulders and led me straight over to the bed.  
  
"You're white as a ghost! What happened?"  
  
"I thought I felt something," I mumbled. "I mean, I _did_ feel something...I don't know..."  
  
"What, dearest? What did you feel?"  
  
"Eyes." My voice dropped and I leaned against her still trembling. "I felt eyes watching me-"  
  
"Eyes!"  
  
"But I don't feel them now." Gently I disentangled myself from her arms and ran one hand across my forehead. "Really. I'm okay."  
  
"I told you," Solo said.  
  
I hadn't noticed him standing in the doorway, and now he came into my room, exchanging solemn looks with Aunt Hilde. I wished they'd go away and quit fussing-I felt silly now for making such a commotion, and I hated the way both of them had stopped looking at each other and were now staring straight at me.  
  
"I'm just tired," I insisted crossly. "You know how hard it is for me when I start a new school."  
  
"Hmmm." Aunt Hilde redirected her gaze onto the floor, and her lops pressed into a thin line-a sure sign she was thinking really hard before she said something. At last she added, "You looked so strange this morning."  
  
"I look like I always do!" My voice rose defensively. "If that means I look strange, I can't help it if that's the way I look."  
  
I knew I was being childish, but I couldn't seem to stop myself.  
  
"Maybe we should have a discussion," Aunt Hilde began helpfully, but I jumped off the bed and pushed past Solo into the hallway.  
  
"I'm going to take a walk," I announced.  
  
Aunt Hilde jumped up after me and nodded with forced brightness. "What a great idea! Fresh air will do you good."  
  
"Coward," Solo mumbled, but I ignored him and ran down the stairs and out the front door.  
  
For several minutes I just stood there on the porch, waiting for my heart to settle down into my chest again. I could smell early flowers and the hint of rain in the air, and the freshness of new leaves just out on the trees. I leaned for a while on the porch rail, but then, as I straightened up again and glanced at the house next door, I realized someone was sitting over there in the porch swing.  
  
"Hi," said the voice, and I caught my breath in surprise.  
  
"Heero?" I asked cautiously.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
He sprang into full view and draped his body lazily over the front railing. I could see he wasn't wearing his coat now-just jeans and a green sweatshirt with holes in it-but the cap was still turned around on his head and his yellow hightops had come unlaced. As I watched. He pulled off the cap, shook his hair out of his eyes, then smashed the cap down onto his head again, lopsided.  
  
"Hi," I said again quietly. "You look surprised."  
  
"Shouldn't I be?" My tone was accusing. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I live here."  
  
"You do?" I must have sounded shocked, because there was the slightest touch of laughter in his voice.  
  
"Yeah. I do."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"Why didn't you ask?"  
  
"Well, I usually don't go into a new school asking every kid I meet, hey, do you live next door to me?" I was sort of embarrassed, like he'd played a trick on me. "I didn't see you around this weekend."  
  
"I wasn't here," he said, not offering to tell me where he'd been. "I just got back late last night."  
  
"Oh."  
  
He hopped up onto the railing, his arms straight out at his sides, as if walking a tightrope.  
  
"You as crazy as old lady Une?" he asked casually.  
  
"I might be," I said.  
  
"Just wondering." Again that hint of laughter in his voice, though he kept his face expressionless. I watched him and thought how jealous I was again of his perfect skin and those perfect eyelashes and that perfectly formed mouth.  
  
"You're thinking...you've seen me in some other lifetime," he said, and I snapped back to awareness.  
  
"I'm not thinking anything about you," I lied.  
  
"That's why you keep looking at my face. Am I familiar to you? Did we meet in some other dimension? Were we friends or maybe lovers?"  
  
"I wasn't looking at you face."  
  
"Yes, you were." He hopped off the railing and landed at the very bottom of the porch steps. He slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans and leaned lazily against one wooden column of the porch.  
  
"So how's it feel living in the museum?"  
  
I almost laughed at that. "Like a museum."  
  
"Maybe you should sell tickets and take tours through."  
  
"Maybe. I could use the spending money."  
  
"So how was your first day? Any more confrontations with your locker?"  
  
"I don't want to talk about that."  
  
"How come?"  
  
"It was embarrassing, and you'll just laugh."  
  
"No, I won't."  
  
This time he crossed his yard, leapt lightly over the fence, then stood there staring at me as I watched from my porch.  
  
"That was Wufei Chang's locker," he said.  
  
"I heard. A boy who disappeared."  
  
He nodded. His blue eyes looked almost sad.  
  
"He was a nice boy. I liked him."  
  
"Did you grow up with him, too?"  
  
"No." Squatting down, he ran his long fingers slowly over the ivy that grew up through the cracks in the walkway. "He was an outsider. His dad was on the construction crew that came through here when the new highway was being built. He and his family were only living here until his job was over."  
  
I let this sink in, feeling a prickle race up my spine. "Did his family happen to rent _this_ house?"  
  
He looked surprised. "No. They had a place outside of town. Why?"  
  
Now I felt stupid. "No reason. I was just curious."  
  
"So is it?" he asked me.  
  
"Is it what?"  
  
"Your house like a museum?"  
  
I had to laugh. "You can come in if you want. Check for dead teenagers in the basement."  
  
He looked at me, and his smile seemed sort of strained, and for just a split second everything seemed to freeze around him, as if I were looking at a movie still.  
  
"No, thanks," he said casually. "Some things are better left un-"But before he could say anything else, a woman came outside and called to him, something about not forgetting what he was suppose to do before dinner.  
  
"I have to go." He jumped up and swung himself back over the fence into his own yard. "See you around."  
  
"Yeah," I said. "See you."  
  
He started toward his house, then stopped in his tracks and spun around to face me.  
  
"Why don't you come?" he asked.  
  
"Me?" I looked around widely, as if there might be four or five other people standing around behind me that he might be talking to.  
  
"Yeah. Come with me. I'm just going out to Lost River. I won't be long."  
  
"I...uh...have homework to do."  
  
"Do it latter. I'll help you."  
  
I shook me head at the offer, but as I stared into those big dark eyes, my heart betrayed me. Who could have resisted an offer like that?  
  
"I'll have to tell my aunt," I said.  
  
"Go do it."  
  
It only took a second to make my announcement and grab my jacket, and then I was back out again, hurrying to meet him where he now waited in his driveway next to a battered old gray Mustang.  
  
"Okay?" Heero let the hood crash down. He wiped his hands on a rag, wadded it up, and tossed it onto the porch. Then he tilted his head at me with a sidelong glance.  
  
"Hope you like bumpy rides."  
  
"I don't mind them," I said.  
  
"Good. Climb in."  
  
I did, and he did, and then without warning, the car gave a tremendous lurch and bounced off, throwing me right up against him as I desperately tried to keep my balance.  
  
"Sorry!" I shouted. The windows were wide open, and I could hardly hear myself think, and as I struggled to hold on to the door handle, the car swerved and I bounced right into him again. "Sorry!" I yelled for the second time, but he only gave me that faint little smile and made the Mustang go faster.  
  
It didn't take long to get out into the country.  
  
Since the ride was so bumpy and noisy for conversation, I concentrated on the scenery as we sped along, noticing how we turned off the main highway and then, after several miles down a two-lane blacktop, off again onto a dirt road. It got quieter then, and we slowed down nearly to a crawl, winding back and back through deep twisted woods. I wondered how anyone could ever find his way through there, with the shadows so deep and deceptive, and the early twilight almost full dark. I must have shivered a little because Heero suddenly reached over and touched my arm.  
  
"Cold?" he asked.  
  
"Not really. It's just so dark out here."  
  
He nodded, curling his body back into his seat, resting one arm lazily across the top of the steering wheel.  
  
"Country dark's not like any other kind of dark. And the river's even worse."  
  
We rounded a bend in the road, and the headlights picked up a dilapidated little house far back from the curve. Obviously abandoned, it leaned a little to one side, and the weeds grew up as high as the shuttered windows.  
  
"Wufei used to live in that house," Heero said. "You know...the boy whose locker you have."  
  
I moved closer to get a better view. Shadows angled down over the roof, spilling in black puddles across the sagging front porch.  
  
I shuddered. "It looks haunted."  
  
Heero shrugged and began to whistle. His glance flicked briefly to me and then out his window again.  
  
"Tell me about Wufei Chang," I said quietly.  
  
He didn't act surprised at the request. In fact, he didn't act any way at all. He stared straight out at the curving road and thought for several moments and then smiled.  
  
"He was nice," he finally said. "I didn't mind him."  
  
"But what was he _like_? I mean...what kind of person was he?"  
  
His eyebrow lifted, and his face took on a puzzled look. "Why all this interest in someone you don't even know?" When I didn't answer, he added softly, "Someone you're _never_ going to know."  
  
That made me sad. I moved away from him and rested my head against the door, staring out into the gathering dusk.  
  
"I guess it bothers me," I admitted, "Having his locker and all. Maybe I feel...you know... connected to him in a way." I looked down and gave a sheepish laugh. "I know that sounds weird."  
  
He didn't answer. He rested one elbow on the ledge of his open window and leaned his cheek against his palm.  
  
"You really care about people, don't you?" He sounded slightly mystified. "That's so rare these days. Most people don't care about anything."  
  
"Oh, please-"  
  
"No, I mean it. Here's this boy you don't even know-I mean most of us hardly knew him-and you're...you know...concerned about him."  
  
"It's just that..." I tried to find the right words, wanting to make him understand. "The whole thing seems so tragic to me. One of those horrible things you always read about that happens to someone else-except it happened to a _real person_ who used to have my locker. And now...it's like he never even existed. But he _did_ exist! He had a _life_!"  
  
In the shadows I could feel his eyes upon my face, could feel the curious way they were watching me.  
  
"Maybe you shouldn't think about it," he said at last. "It makes you too unhappy, and there's nothing you can do. It's been over for a long time."  
  
"But it's _not_ over, is it? Not really. Not till someone finds out what really happened to him."  
  
"Most people have stopped wondering by now. They've gotten on with their lives."  
  
"They might not have stopped wondering if he'd been from here." I sighed.  
  
"But he wasn't," Heero said. "He was an outsider."  
  
"Is that how everyone's classified? You're either a townsfolk or an outsider?"  
  
"Something like that, I guess." The idea seemed to amuse him. "Why? You afraid you're gonna get tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail?"  
  
"I'm beginning to worry."  
  
I head him laugh softly under his breath. He rearranged his cap in the same crooked position, and then he brushed absentmindedly at the hair blowing in his eyes. I sat there gazing at his profile and head him say softly, "Quit looking at me."  
  
"I'm not looking at you," I said, and he gave me a sidelong glance.  
  
"Yes, you are."  
  
Maybe it was because he sounded so self-conscious about it that I couldn't help teasing him.  
  
"It's your smile," I said.  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
"Don't you want to know what I think about it?" I persisted.  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. It's a sweet smile. A wonderful smile. Sort of funny and whimsical-"  
  
"_Whimsical?_"  
  
"Yes, and kind of teasing and secretive and sly all at the same time." I hid a smile of my own as the silence dragged on and on. "It makes you look like a little boy," I finished.  
  
"It does not."  
  
"Yes, it most certainly does. Cute and shy. And vulnerable."  
  
No answer.  
  
I leaned over and put my face to his. He was trying to keep his eyes on the road, but as I kept staring at his profile, pretending to study every feature, I saw a muscle move in his cheek, and he stole a glance at me.  
  
"Are you blushing?" I whispered.  
  
"No response.  
  
"Hmmm..." I mused. "I think maybe you are."  
  
I could feel him squirm uncomfortably, and it was all I could do not to laugh.  
  
"I told you, you were shy." I couldn't help sounding smug.  
  
His eyes shifted onto mine. That little smile played at the corners of his mouth.  
  
"Stay close to me like that, and I'll show you how shy I am," Heero said.  
  
I stared at him.  
  
I moved back.  
  
I turned my face to the open window and let the cool air blow across my warm cheeks, and I heard Heero laughing softly.  
  
"Now who's blushing," he murmured.  
  
The last shred of sunlight was finally slipping away. As we followed the road out of the trees, I could see a molten glow oozing over the hillsides, and the air smelled wet and earthy. Off in the distance I could see the ruins of a barn, rotting silently in an empty field.  
  
"Did Wufei really live back there in that awful place?" I asked quietly.  
  
Heero didn't answer at first. He kept his eyes on the road ahead, slowing the car even more as we came to a steep incline.  
  
"It wasn't always that bad," he said, shifting into low gear and starting the climb. "Out here it doesn't take long for nature to reclaim things, especially when nobody's using them anymore."  
  
"Did you ever go out with him?"  
  
The question popped out before I could stop it. I heard the words hanging in the air between us, but by then it was to late to do anything but feel like an idiot.  
  
Heero didn't look at me. His hands tightened on the steering wheel.  
  
"Once," he said.  
  
I waited for him to go on. He didn't.  
  
Instead he coaxed the old car over the top of the hill, and then he leaned forward, squinting through the shadows and pointing to something I couldn't even see.  
  
"Look-there's the bridge," he announced. "Welcome to Lost River."  
  
The road came to an abrupt end.  
  
Heero stopped the car and jumped out, walking forward onto a rickety wooden bridge and pulling back a heavy chain with a sign on it that said PRIVATE.  
  
"Where are we?" I asked him. We must have been riding for half an hour, at least. My ears were still ringing from the wind and the noisy engine, and I gingerly patted my head, and fiddled with my braid.  
  
"We have a summer cabin down here," he informed me, hopping back in again. "My dad just wanted me to check on some things."  
  
I craned my neck out the window as we drove slowly across the bridge. Broken boards sagged beneath the weight of the car, and in the glare of the headlights I could see what looked like a ravine yawning below. Shuddering a little, I drew back inside and watched as the dirt road sloped up a gentle rise, and wound through another stretch of woods, widening at last into a shadowy clearing, where it promptly dead-ended.  
  
"That's out place," Heero said.  
  
I looked out at the small wooden cabin, its roof and porch and stone chimney practically swallowed by the surrounding trees. Dormer windows jutted out from the second floor, all of them heavily shuttered, and the encircling yard was tangled with weeds and dead leaves and fallen tree limbs.  
  
"The Taj Mahal it's not," Heero added. He stopped the car and turned off the ignition, glancing over at me with a shrug. "But we spend lots of time here. It's a great place to bring friends. Lots of privacy."  
  
"That's the river down there," he said, heading around to one side of the cabin. "It's high right now-we've had a lot of rain."  
  
I could see now that the cabin was built at the top of an embankment. As Heero walked to the edge, I came up behind him a gazed down into the muddy water below. A flight of wooden steps led down to a narrow dock, but I could hardly see it for all the overhanging trees. The place looked dark and spooky, and I pulled back nervously, all to conscious of the spongy ground underfoot.  
  
"Be careful, it's slippery," Heero warned me, reaching out for my hand. "You'd think we'd be safe here, wouldn't you, being up this far? But the truth is, a few good storms set in, and it's nothing for that water to come right over the bank. I've seen it flood so bad, we've had to leave the car way back down the road and paddle the boat in over the bridge."  
  
I couldn't even picture the river this high. As Heero let go of my hand and turned back toward the cabin, I lingered behind, taking another peek at the dock. The bank was matted with weeds and twisted clumps of tree roots, and as a stared, something slithered out of the shadows and into the murky water. Nervously I redirected my gaze into the middle of the river, where I could see a slow, lazy current swirling along. But down there along the bank the water didn't seem to be moving at all-just lying there deep and thick and stagnant...  
  
_Dead...  
_  
A chill crept up my arms.  
  
Suddenly, more than anything else, I wanted to get back to the safety of the car.  
  
I started to turn, and to my horror, felt my foot slipping in the mud. Panicking, I whirled around and gasped.  
  
I hadn't heard Heero come up behind me. I thought he'd gone into the cabin.  
  
But now, as I locked eyes with him, I also felt something hit my arm, shoving me off balance.  
  
I grabbed wildly for something-_anything_-to hold on to.  
  
But there was only the wet ground dissolving beneath my shoes, and the shrill echo of my scream, and the endless rush of dank, dark air as I plunged into nothingness.

TBC......

AN: I have decided to up the rating on this story and put in a lemon scene for one of my dedicated, reader/reviewer, Anya. But I don't know how soon. Could be next chapter, could be last chapter, but it will be there. I have to get Duo and Heero more comfortable with each other, after all, they just met.  
  
I love feedback. Good or bad, I won't feel bad. If you have suggestions or something you'd like me to add, just say so. I might and I might not though, so don't hurt me. =) 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs. I don't own these characters and would very much not like to be sued.

Chapter Seven:

"Duo! Are you okay!"

I might have been out for a second or two-I'm not really sure. There was just that endless sensation of falling, and the bone-jarring impact, and then everything finally began to focus again, all blurs and slow motion.

I tried to move but couldn't. I felt like something was trapping me-something huge and alive-and sucking me down into a bottomless hole.

The first thing I saw clearly was Heero sliding down the embankment after me, and I remember thinking in some weird corner of my mind that it was a miracle he was even staying on his feet at that crazy angle. The next thing I saw was his face above mine, and he looked scared to death.

"Duo-can you hear me? Don't move!"

I wanted to tell him there was no danger at all of that, I was stuck fast. But my immediate concern wasn't the weeds of the slime or even the throbbing in my head, it was suddenly remembering that slithery thing I'd seen earlier.

"Get me out of here!" I yelled. "I think I saw a snake!"

"If you did, he never knew what hit him. Hang on-your foot's caught."

I tried to lift myself up, but only sank back helplessly into the muck. I could feel Heero's fingers around my ankle, and as a terrible pressure suddenly disappeared, I saw him grin triumphantly and toss my sneaker into the water.

"What are you doing to my shoe?" I cried, but his arms were around me now, tugging me to my feet. "I need that shoe!"

"Forget the shoe. Can you stand up?" He loosened his hold on me, and I started to crumple. "Negative on standing. Maybe something's broken after all."

I winced and shook my head. "I'm sorry. I'll try harder-"

And then it happened.

Just like before-only this time I was right in the middle of it-_trapped_ in the middle of it-like suddenly finding myself in a movie scene, but not being able to get out because the film's running on fast forward and no one can stop it-

_Panic…terror…pain pain pain bursting exploding darkness surging in swallowing me-something else-a smell again-only different this time-thick…clinging…suffocating wet slippery can't breathe…oh, God, can't breathe, what is it-_

"It's murder," Heero was saying.

"Wh-what?" I whispered.

"I said it's _murder_ coming down that way. Next time I wish you'd use the steps."

I looked at him in dismay. I was standing up clutching the top of my head, and Heero was still holding me. I was shaking all over, but I was also testing my weight on one foot, and everything was sharply back in focus. I was pressed up against his chest, and we were both covered in mud, and as I looked into his face, a flash of memory came back to me-_something hit my arm…his eyes were so dark…I didn't know he was there…_

"You okay?" Heero asked. "Did you hurt your head?"

"You-" I broke off, suddenly confused. Anger and fear and pain roared through me, and I pulled back, pushing him away. "Something…something hit me."

"Did it?" Heero's face was blank. "I saw you slipping, and I couldn't believe it. I tried to get to you-tried to _grab_ you, but you were already on your way down."

I stared at him. His clothes were filthy and torn, and there were streaks of dirt on his face. He ran a hand over on cheek, making it even worse.

"Something pushed me," I mumbled, and I took another step back.

"You slipped," he said quietly.

I looked up into his eyes. He held my gaze with a steady one of his own, and with an effort I turned my attention to the riverbank.

"You can't get up the same way you came down," he deadpanned. "Here. Hold on to me."

"I can do it myself." I said.

He didn't argue, only reached over and took my hand, leading the way carefully through the tall grass until he was able to touch the stairs with one shoe. Then, digging in his heels, he gave me an encouraging nod and pulled gently, guiding me to solid ground. Relieved, I felt the steps beneath my feet and Heero's hand around my waist, boosting me up. I tried to pretend I didn't notice anything, but a curious tingle went through me, and I ended up stumbling.

"You're okay," he said, catching my elbow, steering me again. "I'm right behind you."

I didn't want him to be right behind me. I especially didn't want him right behind me when I knew my rear end was wet and covered with mud and grass stains.

"I hope we can fix this big rip back here," he said.

I whirled around, and he sucked in both cheeks, making his face clownishly solemn.

"Joke," he said, holding up one hand. "Really. I swear."

I was so glad to get to the cabin. While Heero unlocked the door, I stood behind him, watching his quick, deft movements. I tried to remember exactly what had happened back there on the riverbank…what had happened the second before I fell..._but Heero said I was falling when he grabbed for me…I must have felt him trying to catch me, but he missed…_

"Are my jeans ripped?" Heero asked, and I snapped back to attention. He was looking down at himself and frowning.

"Sorry. What?"

"You're undressing me with your eyes," he said.

"I most certainly am not."

"Come on, you know you were." He winked and stepped aside to hold open the door. "After you."

The cabin was surprisingly homey. At one end was a huge kitchen with a big oak table, and at the other end a cozy living room, one wall taken up by a stone fireplace. The floors were all wood, the walls paneled, and every window had a view of the trees. A wide porch stretched across the entire rear of the cabin, and when Heero opened the back door, I could see the forest pressing right up to the second story, where Heero showed me the huge room full of beds and mismatched furniture.

"As you can see, my mom's big on hospitality." He shrugged. "Everyone comes here to crash, so we always have plenty of sleeping space."

"It's nice," I told him. My arm was starting to hurt, and I rubbed distractedly at the torn sleeve. "Do you ever come here by yourself? Just to be alone and think?"

"Actually, it's the best place in the world when nobody else is here. And since you and I are neighbors now, if you ever want to come and be alone and think, be my guest."

"What about your parents? Won't they mind?"

"Of course not." He looked surprised. "They both work during the week, and my mom babysits a lot, so she's usually bust on the weekends. Come anytime you want. I'll even show you where we hide the key."

I couldn't help smiling at the offer. "That's really nice of you. You don't even know me."

"What does that mean?" he teased. "Is there something I _should_ know?"

I shook my head. "Not really."

"Like……are you an ax murderer? A psychopath? A reform-school escapee?"

Again I shook my head, but this time I was laughing.

"No. None of the above."

"Well"—he looked me slowly up and down—"you never can tell about people. You _seem_ harmless enough, but you can't be too careful these days."

I started to nod, started to say something clever, but Heero went over to an old dresser and began rummaging through its drawers.

"Here," he said, tossing me a bundle of clothes.

"What's this?"

"What do you mean, what's this?" he scolded gently. "Look at you, you're a mess. Put these dry clothes on before you catch pneumonia."

I hesitated, staring at the clothes in my hands. Heero went back down the stairs, and a second later I heard him whistling as he opened and shut cabinet doors. I kept one eye on the stairs and began to undress.

"People break in sometime!" Heero's voice floated up the stairs, and I moved closer, trying to hear.

"What did you say?"

"I said, people break in sometimes! Into the cabins! All up and down the river!"

"Is that why we're here?"

"Sort of. Jimmy Frank called my dad about changing the locks before we start leaving stuff down here for the summer. We've had stuff stolen before."

"Like what?"

"Oh……radios. Tools Fishing tackle……things like that. Most of the time it's not worth much, but last year we lost a boat motor and some of my dad's guns."

I pulled on a baggy pair of jeans and frowned as the legs billowed out around me. I slipped into the huge shirt and decided both things must belong to Heero's father.

"Are you finding anything suspicious?" I called back, sliding into dry socks.

"Usually when there's been a break-in, it's just transients, looking for food and a dry place to spend the night—especially if the weather's bad!"

Rattles, crashes, and more bangs. Doors opening and closing. Windows being raised a lowered.

"Everything looks okay to me," Heero announced.

"Who's Jimmy Frank?" I called to him, rolling my wet things together into a ball.

"The caretaker. People only use these cabins in the summer. Jimmy Frank does anything that needs doing—repairs, maintenance, stuff like that. But last year, with the robberies and all, folks asked him to keep an eye on things during the off-season. Haven't you met him yet?"

"Why would I?"

"He goes to school with us. You must of seen him in class."

Heero didn't hear me slip downstairs. I stood there watching as he climbed up on the back of the couch to check the lock on the window. His jeans were still wet, molded tight to his narrow hips, and he'd taken his shoes off and stripped to his T-shirt. His head was angled slightly back, and his hair swished back and forth across his shoulder blades like a soft chocolate cloud. _What's the matter with you, are you crazy? What possible reason would he have for pushing you down a hill?_

While I hesitated there at the bottom of the steps, Heero turned and saw me, his face exploding in a giant grin.

"Wow! You look like a clown!"

"Thanks," I grumbled.

"I cute one, though. I meant a really cute clown."

"Are these your dad's?" I said irritably. _Great way to make an impression, Duo. I'm sure you'll be engraved in his memory forever and ever._

"Actually they're my older brother Leon's," Heero said. "He's really fat, so ran away from home last year and joined a traveling sideshow."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Is that true?"

"Of course it isn't true." He gave me a chiding look and hopped back down onto the floor. "I don't even have a brother named Leon. Well, I can't find a single thing going on here. I guess we'd better get back."

"Can I do anything?"

"Just wait in the car while I lock up."

Dusk had turned to dark by now. As I sat there alone waiting for Heero to come back, I could hear all these weird whispery sounds around me……invisible things moving through the shadows, camouflaged by the night. I wrapped my arms tight around myself and fought off a bad case of nerves. Far below me the river flowed, and an owl hooted mournfully, and the wind sighed through the trees, making them bend and sway like zombies on the loose.

_Now, why did I think of that? Why zombies?_

"Heero?" I called.

"Yeah! Coming!"

He stepped out onto the porch and locked the door behind him. I finally began to relax a little when we were well on our way down the road.

"Did you find anything?" I asked him as he fiddled with the radio.

"No. If anyone was there, they didn't bother anything."

I nodded and leaned back into the seat. "Why do they call it Lost River?"

For one instant Heero's hand was caught in the glow of the dashboard. It paused in midair as though frozen.

"Because," he said slowly, "It's so deep and the undercurrents are so strong."

The radio sputtered with static. Heero clicked it off.

"It's a spooky name," I murmured.

"It's a spooky river," Heero replied. He thought a moment, then went on. "It winds back through those woods where the sun can't even reach. People've been known to get lost back there……some never come out again. And those that do come out……"

His voice trailed off. I stared at his silhouette, knowing he couldn't see me now in the dark.

"Those that do, what?" I coaxed.

"Oh, you know how rumors are." He brushed off my question, yet his voice sounded tight, and his shoulders seemed to have stiffened. "Some say the river's possessed. That it calls to you, and when you hear it, all you want to do is be part of it forever. And the souls of the ones who've drowned, they beckon new ones to join."

A heavy silence fell.

I could hear my heartbeat quickening and the rush of the wind through the car and the chirping of crickets from the darkness. I took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

"Sorry I asked. Just what I needed to help me sleep tonight."

"But you don't really believe any of that, do you?" His voice was low. "Haven't you been warned about small-town gossip? For each story someone tells, there's always someone else trying to top it."

And suddenly he laughed—a quick, nervous sound in the uneasy quiet.

I tried to laugh, too, but couldn't.

I turned my face to the window and let the deep, dark night flow over me, and wondered why I suddenly felt so cold.

-TBC……

A/N: Hope you like this and thanks for reading. Please review and I'll do my best to keep pumping out chapters. Thank you all so much for reviewing. I really am updating as fast as I possibly can.


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